Will Wonders Never Cease? Curious Collections

Learning Intention:

I am learning to navigate and read a selection of online texts so that I can generate ideas to meet a purpose.

Success Criteria:

• I can evaluate texts and identify important features of informational texts
• I can use planning tools to plan an information text
• I can consider audience and purpose

Essential Knowledge:

More information about the organisation of different text types can be found in the English Textual Concepts video Code & Convention.

Guiding Question:

How does the purpose of a text influence the way it is created for its intended audience?

 

Read the article as a class. After reading, extract the key information from the text. Ask students to find all the museums listed in the article (dog collar, lawnmower, pencil, shoe, socks, cup noodles, baked beans, watermelon, cucumber, mustard, chocolate, sewer, toilet, soap). Then ask students to match the images in the article with the appropriate museum.

Instruct students to shortlist their favourite sounding museums. Explain that they will try to find their webpages on the internet. To do this they will need to use Boolean Operators in their search. For example: toilet AND museum AND India. Students should use as much information from the article as possible to locate the museum. Also explain that students need to find the webpage made by the museum; for some of the museums there is only a mention of them on a travel site such as ‘Atlas Obscura’, so students will need to be able to tell the difference.

Before asking students to navigate through the web page independently, navigate through a model online text as a class: The Powerhouse Museum Ultimo. Features to identify may include the:

• heading on the webpage, with a photo underneath so that visitors can easily recognise the attraction
• the ribbon/top navigation bar for essential information
• a visit info box; a box listing current exhibitions
• a section for schools and education. You may also draw students’ attention to the text at the bottom which provides essential details for the visitor and disability information.

Then, allow students to independently navigate the museums’ websites

Finally, explain to students that they will be coming up with ideas for a new museum and then brainstorm the information that will appear on the website. As a class, come up with a series of potential museum ideas (vegemite, Percy Jackson, netball). Students should complete a:

• written proposal, (modelled, guided and independently
• sketch a sample website( known as a wireframe), or even experiment with designing a website (suggested tool: Google Sites or Adobe XD) that includes the essential information for visitors.